History Repeating
by Keitorin Asthore
Summary: Yoh knows better than anyone how much Anna empathizes with Seyram Munzer. Oneshot. COMPLETE.


Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

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The resemblance was eerie.

Of course, it could have been the massive blood loss, but still. It was undeniable that Seyram looked just like her. The long light hair, the large luminous eyes, the lack of expression.

She looked like Anna did when he met her, all those years ago.

It was disconcerting to see her behind the controls of the golem. She manipulated the levers expertly, her tiny hands barely able to wrap around them, with a blank fire in her eyes. When she spoke, it was unearthly. Her father's voice layered over her soft, childishly high-pitched one.

"Yoh."

Something nudged his hip sharply. He groaned and opened one eye. His betrothed loomed above him, scowling. "Anna?" he choked.

She crossed her arms, but her amber-brown eyes seemed softer than usual. "He seems to relax just by seeing me," she commented. "He must be reassured by my presence."

Anna didn't often employ sarcasm, but even if she was, she was partially right. She may have been a harsh taskmaster, but her level head could come in handy in a situation like this. He rolled over, ignoring the stab of hot pain that sliced through his side.

_Yup. She brought Dad's shikigamis. It'll be okay._

He flopped back on the angel's hand, squinting up at the night sky through mostly closed eyes. Anna kept talking in her soft but serious voice- something about how this was over and Golem couldn't move. Emeth rattled and clanked; he watched as the cockpit opened. Little Seyram slumped in the driver's seat, her long hair spilling around her. She looked dead.

He could tell Anna was angry. Of course the Munzer children would upset her. Their father had willingly abandoned them, after all, to control his precious automaton instead of taking care of them. He had even taken over his own little daughter's body for his own selfish purposes.

It was not too unlike Anna's secrets, of their parents who were so worried about themselves that they could not be concerned to keep their own child.

Camel Munzer's voice, separated from his young daughter's, floated over the silent woods. "Please take care of my children," he implored.

He could practically feel the heat of Anna's anger. To the uneducated onlooker, she was angry because she was Anna. A lost temper was nothing new. But he knew better. She was watching this man abandon his children; it was like watching her own story play out right in front of her.

His head swam as the others argued around him. But Anna's voice cut through the fog. "How dare you disappear, making others take care of your children?" she demanded, her voice clear and sharp enough to cut glass.

"Oh," Redseb said, scrambling to his feet and shaking Yoh in the process. "Miss Anna!"

He couldn't tell if the eight-year-old was more panicked about being abandoned to his own devices, or left in Anna's care. Yoh opened his eyes with effort.

Anna had climbed into the golem's cockpit. She knelt beside the unconscious little girl and lifted her into her arms. The child's golden hair mingled with the older girl's. If he hadn't been so exhausted, he would have smiled at how gentle Anna was. She carried Seyram to the ground and handed her to Ryu, who held her as easily as he would a doll.

Yoh closed his eyes again. His side throbbed, and blood still soaked through the shirt he had tied around his wound. The cool night air brushed against his skin; if he had had the energy, he would have shivered.

Suddenly the angel shifted beneath him, and he fell back into unconsciousness.

The next thing he knew, someone was tugging at the knots of his makeshift bandage. "Ow," he protested. "Ow…_ow_!"

"Hold still," Faust chided. He muttered something to himself in German.

"Come again?" Yoh mumbled.

"We're nearly back at the complex," Faust said. "I can sew up your wound then."

Yoh stared up at the chilly night sky. "How are the kids?" he asked.

"Fine," Faust said, nodding towards them. "The boy is uninjured, just shaken up."

"And Seyram?"

"Exhausted, but she shall recover."

Yoh studied them. Anna leaned against the mechanical angel's thumb with the Munzer children pressed against her. Seyram sat on her lap with her head on the older girl's shoulder; Redseb huddled under the safe crook of her arm. He seemed to be in a deep conversation with Anna. She answered his questions in a soft low voice as she absently stroked Seyram's long hair.

"The boy seems to be quite attached to her already," Faust commented. He shot Yoh a knowing glance. "Motherhood seems to suit her."

Yoh smiled ruefully. "You know?"

"Surely you knew there were ulterior motives to her request for me to join you," Faust said. "She wanted a doctor who could monitor her pregnancy."

Yoh watched as Redseb snuggled even closer to Anna's side. "How is she?" he asked.

"Holding up well, all things considered," Faust said. "She seems quite taken with those children."

Anna smoothed Seyram's hair. The sight of the little girl sent a sharp pang through Yoh's heart. He remembered another little girl, only a few years older than Seyram. He closed his eyes and saw her clearly, shaking in the mountain snow. Her blonde hair tumbled around her thin, wild-eyed face; blood streaked across her torn white dress. He remembered standing beside her, wanting desperately to fix her, to help her, to stop her trembling and the tears streaking down her white cheeks.

Yoh opened his eyes. That lost little girl wasn't the same anymore. She was calm and composed. Tears no longer threatened to spill over. Instead, she held another broken little girl in her arms, comforting her as only a kindred spirit could.

He smiled. The cycle had been broken at long last.

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**Author's Notes:**

Mm, just how I like my oneshots...short and sappy.

All right, so here's the story behind this one. I've finally embarked upon my magnum opus- an Anna Kyoyama-centric novel, beginning with her birth and tracking through her abandoment, her training, her first encounter with Yoh, and all the way through the entire Shaman King manga until she and Yoh return to Hana.

Yes, it will take forever, and yes, I am most likely bonkers. But I've written a decent chunk of it so far, and I'm pretty dang proud of it. It's called Spider Lilies. It's crazy, yet awesome. I hope you read it and like it!

In any case, I reread the Shaman King manga all the way through in one sitting so I could write out the timeline. First of all, Hiroyuki Takei CANNOT DO MATH. NOT AT ALL. Nothing lines up properly. I finally gave up and starting making stuff up, because nothing was making sense mathematically. He keeps tossing out "three months later!" "in January!" "on a Tuesday!" and NOTHING works out. Second of all, I realized for the second time how closely Seyram and Anna mirror each other. I've already toyed with the exact same idea from Seyram's point of view (in "Kindred Spirits"), but decided to write from Yoh's eyes.

Hence, I wrote this.

Reviews are deeply appreciated. And if you check out the inaugural chapter of Spider Lilies and tell me what you think of it, I shall be deeply in your debt.


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